Opinion

San Ramon Valley letters: Let's count the ways growth is bad for area

Valley Journal

Posted:
02/13/2014 12:00:00 AM PST

Let's count the ways growth is bad for area

A few weeks ago the Times reported that the city of San Ramon is proposing a new development that will have 740 housing units. It will be near Crow Canyon and Bollinger Canyon roads. This should be a concern for all who live in the Tri-Valley for several reasons.

Traffic: Interstate 680 is a mess -- add a few hundred more cars, and it will be gridlock.

Crime: look what the house boom did to Antioch. Schools and the classrooms are packed.

We now have a water issue: sure, the new home will have low-flow showers, etc. However, the current open space uses zero water. Also, when rain falls on the current undeveloped land, the water goes into the soil to refill wells to increase our water supply. When rain falls on the roofs and driveways of a housing development, it becomes runoff.

Time to contact your city hall or one day this will no longer be a great place to live.

Roger Tuma

Danville

How the first Bible viewed babies, fetuses

In the Jan. 24 Valley Times there was yet another letter fighting for personhood and rights for the unborn. Usually the Bible or God is mentioned. And nothing is ever said about caring for these unwanted potential persons after birth. I could use the argument that outlawing abortion would only return us to the dangerous "coat hanger" days of my mother and her sisters. But in their time in Europe, fortunately, it wasn't a crime. So I would like to argue against such statements by using the Bible, specifically the original, Old Testament.

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In Leviticus 27:6, monetary value was placed on the harming of a child, but not until the age of one month. Numbers 3:15 called for a census but only those above one month in age were to be counted. And Exodus 21:22:23 and 22:5 discusses capital punishment -- if a woman is harmed (but not killed) and it causes a miscarriage, this is to be treated only as a civil crime. (tektronics.org, abortions and the bible).

Susan Krome

Danville

Will water's cost fall when the rains do?

Recalling the last drought we had, we were asked to save water. We did.

Then we were advised we had to save more, much more. We did. Then the word came back that we were saving so much water that the water companies had to increase the cost of water to cover salaries and maintenance.

I don't recall getting the increase back when water became plentiful again. Lets see if we get a repeat subtle water rate increase.

C. McLaughlin

Alamo

Inconvenient truths about Earth's climate

Tom Barnidge's column entitled "Gore's film spurred man into action" referred to "global warming" schemes to control carbon dioxide. Not mentioned was that there has been no warming in 16 years! The lack of warming is the reason this issue was rebranded as "climate change." A fairer rebrand would be "climate no change." The lack of warming is totally contrary to all "warming" predictions and computer models.

He also failed to mention the Climategate scandal, where hundreds of hacked emails where Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change "scientists" were caught discussing how they would fake results. The IPCC is the U.N. world center for "warming" studies.

A cap-and-trade carbon tax is about huge money and political power. Al Gore's film has made millions. "Researchers" committed to the "correct" conclusion have received billions. The tax would also serve as a vast international redistribution of wealth as wealthy nations would have to pay the carbon taxes of the underdeveloped.

The website www.petitionproject.org lists more than 9000 Ph.D.'s, including the late Edward Teller, who disbelieve in anthropogenic "global warming."

Mark Fernwood

Danville

Case flawed; labor pool exceeds jobs

A Jan. 31 letter and column blame individual life choices and differences in individual capabilities for America's increasingly divided society of haves and have-nots.

We cannot justly ignore social context in human life. America was served by rugged individualism when it was a nation of small farmers. Today, such self-direction can result in lack of credentials for employment or customers for business.

Farm and factory work is incorporated and mechanized. Many construction jobs have been eliminated by prefabricated components. Artificial intelligence has replaced many middle-class jobs: accounting, business administration, farm administration and even medical diagnostics. Classroom teaching is obsolete due to computerized programs.

What proponents of full individual responsibility ignore is that employment and business choices are only moral bases for the distribution of resources if all are employed or capitalized.

Diane Carpenter

Danville

Local firms should hire local workers

I was very inspired by the "60 Minutes" segment last Sunday (1/26/14) entitled "Year-up" about taking young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds, giving them an intensive internship for a year, and turning them into productive employees in finance and technology for corporations like American Express and Goldman Sachs.

It provided an example of where the American dream is alive and well. I applaud the founders of "Year-up" and the corporate leaders who are taking advantage of the graduates of this program.

Following the program I wrote to "60 Minutes" and requested they do a follow-up on outsourcing. I cannot help thinking about some of the companies in this valley which I have observed using outsourcing firms to bring in armies of young people from overseas to fill jobs that could go to young people in this country. Could these companies do more like "Year-up" to employ our own young people?